Arrangement of keys of keyboard, especially for typewriter

ABSTRACT

New arrangement of keyboard keys especially for typewriters has at least 46 keys furnishing at least 92 places for characters, signs etc. These keys are distributed over four rows, framed by the typewriter control keys, arranged so that all of the keys together can be placed in an essentially rectangular framework of the keyboard deck, the space bar being provided in the lower portion of the keyboard in the conventional manner. This invention is particularly applicable to the keyboard of typewriters with Roman characters and makes it possible to type a text in several languages, such as for example, in French, German, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc., without having to change typewriters.

United States Patent [191 Frost 1 1 Jan. 23, 1973 I ARRANGEMENT 0F KEYS 0F 00.950 l2/l937 Sweden Hun loo KEYBOARD, ESPECIALLY FOR 24l.9l4 10/1940 Switzerland ..l97/l00 TYPEWRITER v Primary bxammer-Ernest T. Wright, Jr. [76] lmlemor: h Frost 21, rue de la Attorney-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn and Mac- Comete, 75 Paris, France peak [22] Filed: March 2, 1971 [57] ABSTRACT [21] Appl. No.: 120,239

New arrangement of keyboard keys especially for typewriters has at least 46 keys furnishing at least 92 [30] Foreign Application Priority Data places for characters, signs etc. These keys are distributed over four rows, framed by the typewriter con- March 2, l970 France ..7007390 "0] ey a ge so h t a" of the keys together can I be placed in an essentially rectangular framework of [52] US. Cl "197/100 the keyboard deck the Space bar being provided in [51] Int. Cl. ..B4l 5/10 5 Id is h 197 100 the lower portion of the keyboard m the conventional le 0 earc manner This invention is particular), applicable to the keyboard of typewriters with Roman characters [56] References cued and makes it possible to type a text in several lan- UNITED STATES PATENTS guages, spch as for example, in French, German, l lngllsh, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc., without having 964,340 7/1910 Trejos ..197/l00 to change typewriters. l,l84,492 5/1916 Searle ..l97/l00 g 4 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS 775,334 lO/l934 France ..l97/l00 ARRANGEMENT OF KEYS OF KEYBOARD, ESPECIALLY FOR TYPEWRITER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a new arrangement of the keys of a keyboard, especially for a typewriter; this keyboard can be of the so-called universal type and it is, of course, understood that it covers all typewriters using Roman characters. More particularly, this invention concerns a new arrangement of the letters, numbers, signs, accent marks, etc., on the keys of a typewriter keyboard, enabling the user of this typewriter to type tests in several languages, such as for example: In French, German, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc., without having to change typewriters.

2. Prior Art It is known that in the typewriters presently sold, the

French keyboard, known under the name of AZER- TY keyboard, is less widespread than the Anglo- Saxon keyboard, known under the name of QWER- TY keyboard; the latter has also be adopted in a certain number of Latin countries, such as for example, Spain and South American countries. It is known furthermore that none of the machines in use in each of these countries concerned makes it possible to completely type a language other than the language of the country of origin. This is a considerable obstacle for example for a typist using a French keyboard machine and having to type a test in Italian because it is very difficult for her and it causes a loss of time to put the acute or grave accents on the letters which do not have any in French. Furthermore, the loss of time is even greater when the typist has to change typewriters in order to find the keyboard corresponding to the language used, v

not only because of the differences in the arrangement of the keys from one keyboard to the next, but also because a certain number of operating keys, for example; back-space, carriage return, etc., do not always occupy the same places in one 'type or another of typewriters.

Consequently, this invention is intended to furnish a new arrangement of the keys of a keyboard on which all of the Roman characters, symbols, letters, numbers, and accents will be distributed so as to make it possible, with the same typewriter, to type texts in different Ian'- guages using these characters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, such a typewriter keyboard is characterized by the fact that it involves at last 46 keys, making it possible to type at least 92 different characters in the case of the Romance languages, such as letters, symbols, accents, numbers, etc., these keys being distributed overfour rows and each corresponding to two different characters; the first row makes it possible to type in the normal" striking position the following numbers and signs:

numbers and signs in the upper case" striking position: 7 V V V i, L g, g, the second row makes it possible, in the "normal" striking position, to type the following lower-case letters and signs;

q, w, e, r, t, y. u, i, o, p, and the following corresponding upper-case letters and signs in the upper-casestriking position:

O, W, E. R. T, Y, U, I, O, P, 1,; the third row makes it possible, in the normal striking position, to type the following lower-case letters and signs:

and the following corresponding upper-case letters and signs in the upper-case" striking position:

A,S,D.F,G,I-I,J,K,L.N, the fourth row makes it possible to type the following lower-case letters and signs in the normal striking position:

2, x, c, v, b, n, m, and in the upper-case striking position the following corresponding uppercase letters and signs:

Z, X, C, V, B, N, M, this keyboard also has on a lateral side, rows of four keys corresponding, relatively, to tab clear, tab set, carriage return, upper case [shift], and on the opposite lateral side it has three keys corresponding, respectively, to back-space, upper-case [shift] lock, upper-case [capitals]; these seven keys being arranged and having a configuration so selected that they will, with the four rows, make up an essentially rectangular enclave of the keyboard deck, the space bar being situated under the lowest row of the four rows in the conventional manner, a wheel being provided laterally and in the proximity of the enclave to permit the regulation of the ribbon.

This keyboard according to the invention is furthermore characterized by the fact that it involves: (a) a detached diaeresis key, making it possible to type in German and to equip the as and us with a diaeresis, as well as all of the other lower-case letters; (b) keys with the Spanishspelling symbols-L, i a, g, as well as the letters N and n, although another key may already have the normal letters N and n; (c) a key 'with the accent marks and detached, making it possible to provide all of the lower-case letters with these accents and, in particular, as in Italian, the vowels o and u; (d) keys having all of the punctuation signs as well as all of the accents in contrast to the American keyboard which does not have any; keys with the g and the small tilde making it possible to type the particular signs most used in Portuguese typing. To facilitate striking and depending upon the country in which the typewriter is to be used, it should be noted that, according'to the invention, the accessory signs, that is to say signs other than the usual letters and numbers, can be changed in terms of their position so as to correspond either to a number or to another accessory sign.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As can be seen in thesingle FIGURE, the keyboard involved in this invention has at least 46 keys, each equipped with two characters, that is to say, giving 92 places. In these 92 places, 54 are occupied by the let ters of the alphabet (upper case and lower case), plus eight numbers giving 62 occupied places, the other 30 places being used, on the one hand, for the punctuation symbols and the accents, and, on the other hand, for accessory signs such as: k, &, etc.

These 46 keys are distributed in four rows, the first row making it possible to type the following letters and signs in the normal striking position:

, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, g, and the following numbers and symbols in the upper case striking position: I

*,#, i, 6E, /2,a, the second row makes it possible to type the following lower case letters and symbols in the normal striking position:

q,w,e,r,t,y,u,i,o,p, ',-,and in the upper-case striking position, the corresponding upper-case letters and the following signs:

it possible to type the following lower case letters and signs in the normal" striking position:

a, s, d,f,g,h,j, k, l,fi, and the corresponding upper case letters and the following signs in the upper case striking positionz A, S, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, N, the fourth row makes it possible to type the following lower case letters and signs in the normal stroking position:

2, x, c, v, b, n, m, and the corresponding upper case letters and the following signs in the upper case striking position:

Z, X, C, V, B, N, M, this keyboard also, on a lateral side, has lined up four keys corresponding, respectively, to tab clear 12, tab set 13, carriage return 14, upper case 15, and on the opposite lateral side, three keys corresponding, respectively, to back space 16, upper case [shift] Lock 17, upper case [shift] 15', these seven keys being arranged and having a configuration selected in such a manner that they will, with the four rows, form an essentially rectangular enclave of the keyboard deck, the space bar 18 being situated under the lowest row of the four rows in the conventional manner, and a wheel 19 being provided laterally and in the proximity of the enclave to permit the adjustment of the ribbon.

On the basis of the above description for the typewriter keyboard which is the object of this invention, it can be seen that the present keyboard difi'ers from keyboards presently known in the sense that it enables the user, with the same machine, to type texts in various languages using Roman characters, such as for example, in German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, without having to change typewriters.

In effect, certain of these various advantages which this keyboard offers, at first sight, when compared to the keyboards of typewriters used in the various countries mentioned will now be enumerated.

On the German typewriters the English keyboard is found, with the exception of the letters Y and Z which occupy other places than on said keyboard. Furthermore, this typewriter involves a supplementary a with a diaeresis attached and a supplementary u likewise with an attached diaeresis, representing a loss of space on the keyboard. On the keyboard of the present invention, the diaeresis is detached and is placed on av separate Key 20 in the upper case position. The Key 20 also has the position. It is thus possible to usethe diaeresis on any letter and, by virtue of this fact, the typewriter also makes it possible to type German perfectly in Roman characters.

On the English machines, in part, is found the keyboard that is an object of this invention and by virtue of this fact it therefore presents no difficulty in adapting it for the British and Americans on the contrary, it is provided with accents, which is not the case in said English or American keyboards. Furthermore, on the keyboard involved in this invention due to the recovery of the spaces wasted on other keyboards, for example, on the French keyboard a, 5., i1, such symbols as the Spanish orthographic symbols (1,, g, Q), which are more numerous than in French, thus find room along with the letter N.

On the other hand, contrary to what happens in the case of the present French keyboard, the accents on the keyboard involved in this invention are detached and placed on a separate key 22 so as to permit the gaining of space, and on the other hand, to be able to use them on any letter. Of course, the letters which have an accent must be typed with two strokes.

Finally, as in Spanish, it is indispensable in Italian to be able to put acute and grave accents on letters, for example: piu, presento, something which the keyboard involved in this invention does permit by using key 22. In addition to the current accents (acute, grave, circumflexes), it is known that the particular signs most used in Portuguese are e and the little tilde above the a, for example: afeigio, informacio. The c is a part of the keyboard involved in this invention and the little tilde has been provided among the accessory signs which means that this keyboard is perfectly suited for Portuguese.

This invention is not limited to the examples which have just been described; on the contrary, variations and modifications can be made which will occur to the expert in the field.

What is claimed is: I

I. A typewriter capable of typing a number of different languages having a keyboard comprising at least 46 keys and capable of typing at least 92 different characters, the keys being distributed in four rows with each row corresponding to two different characters;

the first row containing the following letters and symbols in the normal striking position; 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9,g,(,),-,and the following letters and signs in the upper case striking position: i 4. Q, the second row containing the following lower case letters and signs in the normal striking position, q, w, e, r, t, y, u, i, o, p, and the corresponding upper case letters and the following signs in theupper case" striking position: Q, W, E, R, T, Y, U, I, O, P, 1, the third row containing the following lower case letters and signs in the normal striking position: a, s,.d, f, g,h,j,k, Lfi, and the corresponding upper case letters and the following signs in the upper case" striking position: A, S, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, N, the fourth row containing the following lower case letters and signs in the normal" striking position: 1, x, c, v, b, n, m,

symbol in the lower case and the corresponding upper case letters and the following signs in the upper case striking position: Z, X, C, V, B, N, M, z; a row of four keys for producing respectively, tab clear, tab set," carriage return and upper case shift," located on a lateral side; three keys for producing respectively, back space, upper case shift lock and upper case shift, located on the other lateral side, these seven keys being arranged and having a configuration so selected that, with the four key rows, they form an essentially rectangular enclave of the keyboard deck; a space bar being situated under the lowest of the four rows in the conventional fashion, and a wheel being provided laterally in the proximity of the enclave to permit the adjustment of the ribbon.

2. Keyboard according to claim 1 wherein the diaeresis symbol is separate making it possible to type in German and to accent the lower case letters with a diaere- SIS.

3. Keyboard according to claim 1 wherein the signs 2 1 a, Q, and the letters Fl and n are Spanish orthographic signs and letters, respectively, and another key has the normal letters N and n.

4. Keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the accents and are separate so as to makeit possible to equip all of the lower case letters with these accents and in particular, as in Italian, the vowels o and u.

i l l 

1. A typewriter capable of typing a number of different languages having a keyboard comprising at least 46 keys and capable of typing at least 92 different characters, the keys being distributed in four rows with each row corresponding to two different characters; the first row containing the following letters and symbols in the ''''normal'''' striking position; '''', 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, c , (,) ,*, and the following letters and signs in the upper case striking position: *, #, $, , , -, !, %, 1/2 , a, o, +, ; the second row containing the following lower case letters and signs in the ''''normal'''' striking position, q, w, e, r, t, y, u, i, o, p, , -, and the corresponding upper case letters and the following signs in the ''''upper case'''' striking position: Q, W, E, R, T, Y, U, I, O, P, , ; the third row containing the following lower case letters and signs in the ''''normal'''' striking position: a, s, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, n, , and the corresponding upper case letters and the following signs in the ''''upper case'''' striking position: A, S, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, N, ; the fourth row containing the following lower case letters and signs in the ''''normal'''' striking position: z, x, c, v, b, n, m, , , ., ;, and the corresponding upper case letters and the following signs in the ''''upper case'''' striking position: Z, X, C, V, B, N, M, ?, /, :; a row of four keys for producing respectively, ''''tab clear,'''' ''''tab set,'''' ''''carriage return'''' and ''''upper case shift,'''' located on a lateral side; three keys for producing respectively, ''''back space,'''' ''''upper case shift lock'''' and ''''upper case shift,'''' located on the other lateral side, these seven keys being arranged and having a configuration so selected that, with the four key rows, they form an essentially rectangular enclave of the keyboard deck; a space bar being situated under the lowest of the four rows in the conventional fashion, and a wheel being provided laterally in the proximity of the enclave to permit the adjustment of the ribbon.
 2. Keyboard according to claim 1 wherein the diaeresis symbol is separate making it possible to type in German and to accent the lower case letters with a diaeresis.
 3. Keyboard according to claim 1 wherein the signs , , a, o, and the letters N and n are Spanish orthographic signs and letters, respectively, and another key has the normal letters N and n.
 4. Keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the accents and are separate so as to make it possible to equip all Of the lower case letters with these accents and in particular, as in Italian, the vowels o and u. 